This year’s open-enrollment season presents with an ideal opportunity to promote new or under-used benefits offered on a voluntary or employer-paid basis at a time of uncertainty about the economy and how health care reform will affect coverage, according to Jennifer Benz, founder and chief strategist of Benz Communications.

As such, she suggests that employers step up their annual outreach by producing a list of the five or 10 benefits are missing or failing to leverage and solicit employee feedback in this area in order to help achieve enrollment targets.

Other intriguing suggestions include creating a one-page tip sheet that explains any coverage changes, offers brief enrollment instructions and provides details about where additional information can be obtained, as well as emphasizing the value of employee benefits within a larger context involving total compensation. In addition, she recommends replacing live meetings with virtual ones, starting a benefits blog featuring reminders and tips, and using Twitter to post frequent updates.